Public in Wales urged to help track wildlife during National Mammal Week

People across Wales are being encouraged to record wildlife in their gardens and local areas as part of a UK-wide effort to better understand declining mammal populations.

Conservation charity The Mammal Society is calling on families, schools and nature groups to take part in its Mammal Discovery Challenge during National Mammal Week, which runs from 20 to 26 April.

The appeal comes as new data highlights the scale of the issue, with one in four native land mammals in the UK now at risk of local extinction, according to the State of Nature Report.

Wildlife sites in Wales, including Welsh Mountain Zoo, are among those supporting the initiative, which aims to address gaps in knowledge about mammal populations.

Participants are being asked to carry out simple activities to identify and record animals in their area, such as setting up camera traps, building footprint tunnels to detect hedgehogs and small mammals, or walking a “mammal mile” to look for signs of wildlife.

Records can then be submitted via the Mammal Mapper app, available for Android and Apple devices, helping to build a national picture of species distribution and behaviour.

Species likely to be recorded in Wales include foxes, hedgehogs, wood mice, stoats and weasels, many of which are rarely seen despite living close to human settlements.

Matt Larsen-Daw, chief executive of the Mammal Society, said the public had a key role to play in protecting wildlife.

He said: “Mammals include some of our most iconic and best-loved wildlife – often celebrated in art, children’s books and fashion. However few people encounter such species on a daily basis.

“Elusive, often nocturnal and generally underground or undercover, mammals can be invisible to people, but they play a vital role in healthy and balanced ecosystems.

“We need people in all areas of the UK – rural or urban – to get to know their mammalian neighbours. Being good neighbours means looking out for each other, and conservation organisations like the Mammal Society need data on the location, abundance and behaviour of mammals to be able to identify and address issues that threaten UK nature.

“This National Mammal Week, become a mammal recorder and have fun getting to know your wild neighbours.”

Organisers say the citizen science project is particularly important because mammals are among the most under-recorded wildlife groups in Britain, making it harder to target conservation efforts effectively.

Each day of National Mammal Week, one participant submitting records via the app will be selected at random to receive wildlife surveying equipment vouchers.

Online Submissions

Mammal Society Species Recording Form: https://www.brc.ac.uk/mammals

Mammal Mapper App

Submit records wherever you are with their free app Mammal Mapper. Mammal Mapper will help you identify which mammal species you have seen with photos, descriptions, sounds and annotated images of those that are often easily confused, as well as making it easy to submit the record. They ask that you try to get photos where possible as this helps with verifying the record but you can still submit records without photos.

The app works on iOS and android OS phones. It is not available on Windows phones. All records are valuable and are used for national projects such as the Mammal Atlas Project.